Regulations – 2026 Edition

The Radici Festival, which aims to promote creativity and artistic interpretation, is an initiative of Seeds ETS, a cultural association, with the patronage of the Municipality of San Lucido (CS). The initiative is carried out for cultural purposes, without profit, and in collaboration with volunteers, collaborators, and partners who believe in the purely cultural and social value of the event. The official Festival website is www.radici-festival.it.

Motto

Stop. Breathe. Illustrate!

Theme

We live in a very fast time.
We produce, respond, publish, test ourselves.
We are always on point, always ready, always “on time”.

Then, looking more closely, we realize something simple.
Ideas have their own time.
Projects need time to mature.
Relationships require care.
Bodies follow human rhythms.

And then something strange happens: we slow down.

Not out of laziness or inability.
We slow down because we choose to.
Because some things don’t work if accelerated.
Because not everything needs to be optimized, measured, turned into content.
Because not everything has to grow fast.

Slowness is not a flaw.
It is not a delay.
It is not a nostalgic escape.

It is a practice.
It is attention.
It is time given instead of time taken away.
It is the courage to stop when it would be easier to move on.

Being slow today means rejecting superficiality.
Allowing yourself the time to understand, listen, make mistakes, go back.
Accepting that not everything is immediate, efficient, performative.

In relationships, slowness is presence:
staying, truly responding, not treating others like a notification.

In work, it is depth:
doing things well instead of doing them quickly, choosing meaning before results,
process before performance.

In everyday life, it is silent resistance:
taking time away from constant urgency to give it back to what matters.

In a world that runs,
we are interested in those who choose to slow down.
In those who observe.
In those who change pace.
In those who take the wrong path and decide to explore it anyway.

Radici Festival 2026 is an invitation to tell all of this.
With an illustration.

The theme is SLOWNESS.
Not as a cliché.
Not as nostalgia.
But as a contemporary choice.
As a rebellious gesture.
As a form of gentle resistance.

Take your time.
Send us a single illustration.
Let it grow as something alive grows.

References:

[1] In Praise of Slowness

[2] In praise of slowness - Carl Honoré - TED

[3] Sergio Mattarella - Festival of Contemporary Thinking

[4] How the need for speed threatens creativity - The Guardian

[5] The price of speed - Internazionale

Contest eligibility

The contest is divided into two distinct categories: students and open. Adult illustrators who are students may apply to the first category. Adult illustrators may apply to the second category.

You may apply to only one category with one illustration only!

Access

The initiative is non-profit and participation is completely free.

Timeline and phases

The overall timeline is as follows:

Contest participants may submit their illustration, as defined by the regulations and exclusively within the time window defined by the start and end of the Contest. Selected authors will be contacted by the date shown in the timeline and the final event will take place on the date defined by the timeline. Below is the program of the two main phases:

PHASE I (The contest)

- A contest, divided into two distinct categories, giving participants the opportunity to challenge their peers through the artistic interpretation of a theme.

PHASE II (The Festival)

- Workshop: reserved for authors selected from PHASE I.

- Talks: open access, aimed at inspiring participants through examples and enriching dialogue about the world of illustration and its potential in modern society;

- Exhibition: open access, showcasing the most representative works of the contest (alternatively hosted on the website or official Instagram account);

- Networking and exchange with professionals and virtuous organizations in the field or related to the theme.

Participation rules

To ensure the integrity of the festival, it is essential that the submitted work reflects the individual creativity and originality of its author. Each participant may submit only one unpublished work, created through their own ingenuity and personal effort. The use of AI for the creation of all or part of the work is prohibited.

Artwork requirements

The artwork must be in a rectangular format of a size preferably not exceeding A3 and may be created using any artistic technique.

If the artwork is created digitally, it must be submitted in good quality, in JPG or PDF format;

If created by hand, a digital version with high-resolution scanning in JPG or PDF format is required.

Artwork submission method

To participate in the Illustration Contest, the following must be sent to info@radici-festival.it or alternatively to the Instagram account radici.festival.official:

- the name of the category you wish to participate in: "students" or "open";

- the interest to be here in San Lucido for the workshop and the award ceremony (06th June 2026);

- the illustration (max 5 MB, 300 PPI at least, in one of the following formats: JPG, PDF. The file must be named title_illustration.file_extension, e.g. le_radici.jpeg);

- a completed and signed copy of the Declaration of acceptance of the regulations: Attachment A (JPG or PDF format, max 1 MB, naming the file title_illustration-surname-attachment_a.pdf, e.g. le_radici-rossi-attachment_a.pdf);

- a completed and signed copy of the Privacy Policy and Consent Declaration pursuant to Article 7 of the EU Regulation: Attachment B (JPG or PDF format, max 1 MB, naming the file title_illustration-your_surname-attachment_b.pdf, e.g. le_radici-rossi-attachment_b.pdf);

- a completed and signed copy of the Liability Waiver: Attachment C (JPG or PDF format, max 1 MB, naming the file title_illustration-your_surname-attachment_c, e.g. le_radici-rossi-attachment_c).

It is recommended to use the naming conventions as shown in the examples and not to exceed the maximum size indicated for each attachment. Should any issues arise during upload, assistance is available by emailing info@radici-festival.it or sending us a DM on Instagram.

Prohibition of publishing the illustration before the conclusion of the Festival

To ensure a proper evaluation of the illustrations and the correct conduct of the initiative, we ask you to not make public the illustration with which you participated in the contest.

Prohibition of offensive and harmful content

It is strictly forbidden to submit images or files containing offensive, harmful content, or content that may cause harm to individuals, groups, or communities. This includes, but is not limited to:

- Images of a sexual or pornographic nature;
- Discriminatory or defamatory content;
- Representations of violence or cruelty;
- Content that violates the privacy or intellectual property rights of third parties.

It is also mandatory to scan files before submission to ensure no viruses, malware, or spyware are propagated. In case of violation of the above conditions, the association (and its partners) reserves the right to exclude the participant from the competition and to take any necessary legal action.

Submission deadline and maximum number of entries

Works must be submitted by midnight of the last day indicated in the timeline, in accordance with the instructions specified in these regulations under Artwork submission method. It should be noted that once 150 applications (per category) are reached, registrations will be closed.

Jury

The composition of the jury will be announced on the official Festival website. The jury’s decisions are final and binding for all participants. No disputes will be entertained.

The jury will freely and at its sole discretion select, for each category, the top 10 illustrations. The jury will freely and at its sole discretion select the first-place winner for each category.

Prize per category

Student Category: authors of the top 10 illustrations gain access to the Workshop.

Open Category: €500 for the first-place winner. Authors of the top 10 illustrations gain access to the Workshop.

The contest winner for each category will be announced and awarded on the final day of the Festival.

Workshop participation and winner award ceremony

Workshop participation is strictly in person.

The award ceremony is strictly in person.

For each category, the authors of the 10 selected illustrations will be contacted by the organizers via email (info@radici-festival.it) to confirm participation in the workshop. Please also check your Spam folder to ensure that your email service has not incorrectly classified the communication. By midnight of the day following the invitation, authors must confirm their willingness to participate in person in the workshop. The confirmation of participation is binding (as defined in the no-show section). In the event that confirmation is not received, the association reserves the right to scroll down the ranking list to assign all available places (e.g. if one of the 10 selected does not confirm, the 11th will be contacted, and so on).

It is specified that the Seeds ETS (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) does not cover any costs (e.g. travel, accommodation, or other expenses), nor does it assume responsibility for any logistical issues related to reaching the event location. All expenses and organizational aspects are the sole responsibility of the participants. No expenses, reimbursement and costs will be requested towards Seeds ETS (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) in case of modification or cancellation of the event.

No-show

Once participation in the workshop has been confirmed, it will no longer be possible to cancel, and a penalty of €50 will apply in the event of a no-show.

Rights to the artwork

The rights to the artwork remain the property of the respective authors. Participants grant a non-exclusive right of publication, dissemination, reproduction, and distribution of the artwork on any medium, format, and size and in any context aimed at the proper organization, promotion, and support of the Radici Festival and potential uses by the Seeds ETS association (and its partners). Participants waive any economic claims, having nothing to claim as copyright compensation.

The Seeds ETS association (and its partners) undertakes to always credit the rightful author of the artwork used. Authors of selected works undertake to always mention the artwork’s participation in the Radici Festival when using it in media.

Association liability

Contest participants guarantee that the submitted works do not violate in any way the rights of third parties and release the entire association (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) from any liability for issues that may arise. Participants therefore assume full responsibility for the submitted materials, guaranteeing that they hold all rights thereto and undertaking to indemnify and hold harmless the Seeds ETS association (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) from any harmful consequences or claims, even after the Festival.

The Seeds ETS association (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) shall not be liable in any way for damage, theft, loss, or deterioration of exhibited works or for accidents involving participants and/or visitors during the event.

The Seeds ETS association (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) may resolve any case not covered by these Regulations. In the event of unforeseen necessity, natural disasters, pandemic periods, or for any supervening reason, the association reserves the right to interrupt, cancel, or postpone the Contest, the Festival, and related events, or to modify these Regulations at any time, according to organizational needs. No compensation of any kind shall be granted to participants as a result of the aforementioned possibilities. Participation in the Contest and/or the Festival implies full acceptance of these Regulations.

For any dispute, exclusive jurisdiction shall lie with the Court of Cosenza.

Right of recourse

Participation in the Festival implies the waiver of any recourse, claim for damages, or legal action against the Seeds ETS association (including volunteers, collaborators, and partners).

Amendments to the Regulations

The association reserves the right to make changes to the contest regulations. By participating in the contest, participants fully and unconditionally accept these regulations. In the event of violation of the above conditions, the association (including its volunteers, collaborators, and partners) reserves the right to exclude the participant from the contest and to take any necessary legal action.

Privacy and data processing

Participation in the contest requires viewing and acceptance of the privacy policy and consent declaration (Attachment B) pursuant to Article 7 of the EU Regulation.